The Survival of Catholicism (Edexcel A-Level History): Revision Notes
The Survival of Catholicism
Introduction: the challenge to Catholic traditions under Henry VIII
During Henry VIII's reign, the English Catholic Church faced its first major challenges. Reformers like Thomas Cromwell believed that monasteries encouraged superstition and the worship of saints and images instead of God. Monasteries also maintained connections with foreign Catholic powers and the pope, which threatened Henry's royal supremacy over the English Church.
The Dissolution of the Monasteries began in 1536 with an Act targeting institutions earning less than £200 annually. This sweeping reform affected 372 monasteries across England, though some secured exemptions through payment or political influence.
Popular resistance: the Pilgrimage of Grace (1536)
The dissolution sparked immediate and serious opposition in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire, known as the Pilgrimage of Grace. This was the largest rebellion of Henry's reign and revealed the depth of popular Catholic sentiment.
The rebels demanded:
- The restoration of traditional Catholic religion
- The return of papal supremacy
- The reinstatement of the monasteries
- A return to traditional forms of worship
Significantly, the rebels called their uprising a 'pilgrimage', demonstrating their commitment to Catholic practices and framing their resistance as a religious duty rather than political rebellion. This religious language was central to mobilizing popular support.
Although the rebellion was eventually suppressed, it did not prevent Henry and Cromwell from dissolving the larger monasteries. However, it provided clear evidence of widespread anger at the attack on Catholic religious practices.
The limited effectiveness of Cromwell's reforms (1530s)
By 1536, several permanent changes had been implemented in the English Church:
- Indulgences disappeared
- Traditional concepts like purgatory, worship of saints and images, and pilgrimages came under attack
- Smaller monasteries were closed
- A moderately Protestant form of worship was introduced
Resistance to change
Despite these reforms, Catholicism proved difficult to eliminate. Popular practices that had existed for centuries resisted Cromwell's attempts to stamp them out.
Opposition from Church leaders: Cromwell's campaign against purgatory in 1535-36 faced resistance from the Bishop of London, who openly preached at St Paul's defending prayers for the dead. This public defiance from a senior church official demonstrated that even those in positions of authority were unwilling to abandon traditional beliefs.
Need for repeated injunctions: Cromwell issued a second set of injunctions to the clergy in 1538, suggesting the first set failed to achieve the desired results. The necessity of reissuing instructions revealed the difficulty of enforcing religious change from above.
Difficulties with the English Bible: Cromwell's campaign to place an English Bible in every church only became truly effective in 1539 when the Great Bible was authorised by Henry VIII himself. Before this, parish clergy were instructed to purchase copies themselves, but availability was limited.
Evidence from wills
Wills provide strong evidence that traditional Catholic beliefs remained widespread, particularly regarding what happened to the soul after death. Even in London, where Protestantism gained ground more quickly, 85 per cent of wills in the 1530s contained traditional references to saints and prayers for the soul.
Example: Joan Brytten's Will (1540)
Joan Brytten's will from 1540 demonstrates typical Catholic practices that remained common despite the reforms:
- She bequeathed her soul to God and the Blessed Lady
- She left money to the church altar for forgotten tithes
- She arranged for a priest to sing for her soul and others for six months
This will shows how ordinary people continued to prepare for the afterlife according to traditional Catholic teachings about purgatory and the intercession of saints.
Such references would decline gradually during the Tudor period, but in the 1530s they demonstrate that the extent of religious change remained limited.
Catholic survival in the regions under Edward VI
English Catholicism came under serious attack during Edward VI's reign (1547-1553). The move towards radical Protestantism brought fundamental changes to doctrine, liturgy and the appearance of local churches.
The Western Rebellion (1549)
These changes triggered a rebellion in Cornwall and Devon in 1549, sparked by the government's order requiring all clergy to use the new prayer book.
The rebels demanded:
- A return to the religiously conservative Act of Six Articles (1539)
- Prayers for the dead
- Services in Latin
Passive resistance: the case of Morebath
Historian Eamon Duffy's study of the parish of Morebath in Devon revealed both open and passive resistance. Although villagers usually conformed to government orders, they resented the Edwardian changes. In 1552, they concealed the priest's traditional vestments from government officials rather than surrender them as ordered.
This act of defiance shows how communities found ways to preserve their religious traditions even when open resistance was impossible.
Why the West remained Catholic
The west of England remained a Catholic stronghold for several reasons:
- Geographic remoteness from London made direct enforcement of government policy difficult
- Traditional practices were deeply rooted in local culture
- Distance from central government meant Protestant reforms were harder to implement
Attempts to introduce Protestant reforms by government officials led to serious rebellion, demonstrating the strength of popular Catholicism in this region.
Catholic survival under Elizabeth I
The Elizabethan compromise
Under Mary I (1553-1558), England's restoration to papal control encouraged Catholic recovery, though her brief reign limited long-term success. Under Elizabeth I, Catholicism faced increasing pressure but survived as an increasingly underground movement among those who could afford it.
Apart from the west, the north of England, especially Yorkshire and Lancashire, remained Catholic. This survival was made possible partly by Elizabeth's own approach.
Elizabeth's Moderate Settlement
Elizabeth's policy in the 1560s aimed to create a settlement allowing most moderate Catholics to conform:
- The 1559 Settlement and 39 Articles (1563) kept the Church of England's doctrine as moderate as possible
- The liturgy of Communion was deliberately ambiguous, allowing both moderate Protestants and Catholics to accept it
- This policy led to the development of 'Church papists' – moderate Catholics who outwardly conformed to the Church of England
This pragmatic approach reflected Elizabeth's desire to avoid the religious conflicts that had plagued previous reigns.
Government toleration and its limits
Until the threat of Catholic rebellion became serious from 1568, authorities often turned a blind eye to Catholic recusant activity. This allowed the Catholic faith to remain strong.
Even when the government tightened controls on recusants, it struggled to stop recusant activity:
- In Lancashire: 304 identified recusants in 1578
- In Yorkshire: 750 recusants in 1582
These figures reveal the scale of Catholic non-conformity, particularly in northern regions where traditional religion retained strong popular support.
The role of conservative clergy
Catholic survival was supported by conservative clergy who had received training before 1559 and clung to older traditions into the 1580s. This partly resulted from a shortage of educated Protestant clergy to serve every parish.
In 1583, preacher Thomas Gibson complained about old priests' influence: "the people are still in ignorance and blindness and kept still in their popish errors... they know not the use of the sacraments... they hold still to papistical transubstantiation."
This Protestant complaint reveals how effectively conservative clergy preserved Catholic teachings and practices among their parishioners.
Deprived priests (Catholic priests removed from their posts after the 1559 settlement) continued serving as private tutors and priests for Catholic families. An estimated 150 deprived priests remained active in Yorkshire during the 1560s and 1570s.
Catholic practices beyond the regions
Historian Christopher Haigh demonstrated that Catholic survival was not limited to outlying regions. Some Church of England congregations clung to Catholic practices not just because of their priests, but because they preferred them:
- In Berkshire (1584): parishioners refused to receive the Protestant version of Communion in both kinds
- In Hampshire (1569-70): 132 recusants were identified
This evidence suggests varying practices continued within the Church of England and were tolerated to some extent under the Elizabethan compromise.
The gradual decline of open Catholicism
The longer Elizabeth survived, the more widely accepted her compromise became, making it harder to remain openly Catholic. This decline resulted from:
- The increasingly hard-line approach of Elizabeth's government
- The practical difficulties ordinary Catholics faced in maintaining their faith
Recusancy and the development of underground Catholicism
The Act of Uniformity (1559)
The Act of Uniformity required everyone to attend a Church of England service each Sunday. The punishment for non-attendance was set at 12d (1 shilling), which was affordable for wealthier members of society such as the gentry and nobility. This meant wealthier recusants could continue to worship in private Masses, with government authorities often turning a blind eye.
Changing political circumstances
In the late 1560s, political circumstances changed. Catholics came under increasing suspicion of being possible rebels and traitors because their loyalties were potentially divided between Elizabeth and the pope. This marked a shift towards viewing Catholicism as not just a religious issue but a potential political and security threat.
This change had profound implications for how Catholics were treated, transforming religious non-conformity into an act of potential treason.
Summary
Key Points to Remember:
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The Pilgrimage of Grace (1536) was the largest rebellion of Henry VIII's reign, demonstrating strong popular attachment to Catholic traditions, monasteries, and papal supremacy.
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Evidence from wills shows that Catholic beliefs remained widespread in the 1530s, with 85% of London wills still containing traditional Catholic references to saints and prayers for souls.
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Regional strongholds of Catholicism survived in the west (Cornwall and Devon) and the north (Yorkshire and Lancashire) throughout the Tudor period, partly due to geographic remoteness from London.
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Elizabeth's moderate settlement and policy of compromise allowed 'Church papists' to develop – Catholics who outwardly conformed to the Church of England whilst maintaining Catholic beliefs privately.
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Deprived priests and conservative clergy trained before 1559 helped sustain Catholic practices well into Elizabeth's reign, particularly in northern regions where an estimated 150 remained active in Yorkshire alone during the 1560s and 1570s.